Ultrastructural study of hepatic regeneration following one-lobe, two-lobe, and subtotal hepatectomy in the rat

Abstract

The sequential and comparative ultrastructural features of regenerating rat liver following one-lobe, two-lobe, and subtotal hepatectomy were studied. All three groups demonstrated glycogen depletion at the 12 h post-hepatectomy interval with reaccumulation occurring at 24 h in the first two groups but not until 72 h in the subtotal hepatectomy group. Other hepatocellular alterations attributed to regenerative activity were similar in the three groups, however the onset and magnitude of those changes occurring in the two-lobe and subtotally hepatectomized rats differed significantly from those alterations occurring in the one-lobe hepatectomy group. These changes were characterized by a greater and more prolonged mitotic activity, increased proliferation of RER and smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER), and by increased Golgi bodies. These two groups also manifested greater hepatocellular accumulation of phagolysosomes, myelin figures, and lipid bodies when compared with the one-lobe hepatectomy group.